Project description:We use the continuously replacing dentition of Lake Malawi cichlid fishes to understand de-novo tooth replacement in adult vertebrates. In this system, each tooth is replaced in a one-for-one fashion every ~50 days. Here, we explore the source of epithelial stem cells for tooth replacement.
Project description:East African cichlid fishes have diversified in an explosive fashion, but the (epi)genetic basis of the phenotypic diversity of these fishes remains largely unknown. Although transposable elements (TEs) have been associated with phenotypic variation in cichlids, little is known about their transcriptional activity and epigenetic silencing. Here, we describe dynamic patterns of TE expression in African cichlid gonads and during early development. Orthology inference revealed an expansion of piwil1 genes in Lake Malawi cichlids, likely driven by PiggyBac TEs. The expanded piwil1 copies have signatures of positive selection and retain amino acid residues essential for catalytic activity. Furthermore, the gonads of African cichlids express a Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway that target TEs. We define the genomic sites of piRNA production in African cichlids and find divergence in closely related species, in line with fast evolution of piRNA-producing loci. Our findings suggest dynamic co-evolution of TEs and host silencing pathways in the African cichlid radiations. We propose that this co-evolution has contributed to cichlid genomic diversity.
Project description:East African cichlid fishes have diversified in an explosive fashion, but the (epi)genetic basis of the phenotypic diversity of these fishes remains largely unknown. Although transposable elements (TEs) have been associated with phenotypic variation in cichlids, little is known about their transcriptional activity and epigenetic silencing. Here, we describe dynamic patterns of TE expression in African cichlid gonads and during early development. Orthology inference revealed an expansion of piwil1 genes in Lake Malawi cichlids, likely driven by PiggyBac TEs. The expanded piwil1 copies have signatures of positive selection and retain amino acid residues essential for catalytic activity. Furthermore, the gonads of African cichlids express a Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway that target TEs. We define the genomic sites of piRNA production in African cichlids and find divergence in closely related species, in line with fast evolution of piRNA-producing loci. Our findings suggest dynamic co-evolution of TEs and host silencing pathways in the African cichlid radiations. We propose that this co-evolution has contributed to cichlid genomic diversity.
Project description:East African cichlid fishes have radiated in an explosive fashion. The (epi)genetic basis for the abundant phenotypic diversity of these fishes remains largely unknown. As transposable elements (TEs) contribute extensively to genome evolution, we reasoned that TEs may have fuelled cichlid radiations. While TE-derived genetic and epigenetic variability has been associated with phenotypic traits, TE expression and epigenetic silencing remain unexplored in cichlids. Here, we profiled TE expression in African cichlids, and describe dynamic expression patterns during embryogenesis and according to sex. Most TE silencing factors are conserved and expressed in cichlids. We describe an expansion of two truncated Piwil1 genes in Lake Malawi/Nyasa cichlids, encoding a Piwi domain with catalytic potential. To further dissect epigenetic silencing of TEs, we focused on small RNA-driven epigenetic silencing. We detect a small RNA population in gonads consistent with an active Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway targeting TEs. We uncover fluid genomic origins of piRNAs in closely related cichlid species. This, along with signatures of positive selection in piRNA pathway factors, points towards fast co-evolution of TEs and the piRNA pathway. Our study is the first step to understand the contribution of ongoing TE-host arms races to the cichlid radiations in Africa.
Project description:Whole-genome methylomes and total transcriptomes for muscle and liver tissues of Lake Malawi cichlid species characterised in the context of phenotypic diversification.
Project description:Inheritance and plasticity of epigenetic divergence characterise early stages of speciation in an incipient cichlid species of an African crater lake.
Project description:The elucidation of microRNA function and evolution depends on the identification and characterization of miRNA repertoire of strategic organisms, as the fast evolving cichlid fishes. Using RNA-seq and comparative genomics we carried out an in-depth report of miRNAs in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Our results enlarge vertebrate miRNAs collection and reveal a notable differential expression of miRNAs arms and isoforms influenced by sex and developmental life stage, providing a better picture of the evolutionary and spatiotemporal dynamics of miRNAs.
Project description:Social behaviors are essential for survival and reproduction and vary strongly among individuals, species, and heritable brain diseases. The molecular and cellular bases of this variation are poorly resolved, and discovering them is necessary to understand how neural circuit and behavioral functions—and dysfunctions—vary in social contexts. Here we integrate single nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) with comparative genomics and automated behavior analysis to investigate the neurobiology of castle-building, a recently-evolved social, spatial, goal-directed, and repetitive construction behavior in Lake Malawi cichlid fishes. We simultaneously control for and analyze two biological variables correlated with castle-building behavior: quivering, a courtship “dance” behavior, and relative gonadal mass. We find signatures of building-, quivering-, and gonadal-associated neuronal excitation, gene expression, and neurogenesis in distinct cell populations. Converging lines of evidence support the involvement of estrogen, TrkB, and CCK signaling systems, and specific pallial excitatory neuronal subpopulations, in castle-building behavior. We show additional evidence that castle-building has evolved in part through genomic divergence in a gene module that is selectively expressed in stem-like quiescent radial glial cells (RGCs) lining the ventricular zone of the pallium. This RGC subpopulation exhibits signatures of a building-associated departure from quiescence, which in turn is associated with neuronal rebalancing in the putative fish homologue of the hippocampus. Our work supports an unexpected role for glia and neurogenesis in the evolution of social behavior, and more broadly shows how snRNA-seq can be used to systematically profile the cellular bases of previously unstudied social behaviors in new species systems.